Pros and cons of working in teams

Discuss about the leadership and motivation of Sunflower Foods.

This report focusses on leadership and motivation of Sunflower Foods. Leadership plays a vital role in meeting the goals of team as well as the goals and objectives of the respective organization.  Leadership plays a vital role in maximizing the efficacy of the workforce that aids the company to obtain its targeted objectives. Motivation from the managers enables the employees to deliver better performance in the organization. It also improves the quality of work. Motivation increases the speed of work. This organization is facing issues like low morale and motivation of the employees.  Apart from this, poor organizational culture is also adversely effecting on the productivity of Sunflower Foods. In this particular studies, the pros as well as cons of using teams are explained in a precise manner. Possible recommendations for improving teamwork are covered in this particular study. Various theories of motivation are explained in this study. Besides, different ways for improving morale of employees are highlighted in this particular study. Apart from this, this study sheds light on different factors that are responsible for bringing strategic change in the organization are explained here.

Pros and cons of using teams

 It is seen that staffs working at Sunflower Foods are suffering from low morale and they are feeling demotivated towards their work. Apart from this they are facing issues due to poor organizational culture. As a result, they are not delivering their best within the team. As a result, the overall productivity is getting hampered in the due procedure. They are not working together as a team. It has been observed that there are many pros and cons, which are associated with working in a group. From the perspective of Gharaveis, Hamilton and Pati (2018), it has been noticed that people working in a team  works together towards a common goal. In this context, it can be stated that productivity gets increased in the due process. In other words, if everyone works collaboratively in the common direction, then quality output will be produced by the team. This is applicable for employees of Sunflower Group. It has been observed that if individuals shows their willingness to work in a collaborative manner, then the team will meet the company’s goals thereby sustaining the competitive advantage of the company. It has been noticed that addition of more individuals  in the team enhances the resources of the group  (Saghafian and O’Neill, 2018). If more employees of Sunflower foods express their willingness to work in the team, the team will become more productive because the experience along with the skills of each individual will be added to team thereby enhancing the ability of group (Jansen,  Hänel and Klingler, 2018). This is applicable for workforce of Sunflower Foods.

Theories of motivation

In accordance with the opinion of Shluzas and  Pickham (2018), people working in a team, gets a scope to learn new things from rest team members. If employees working at Sunflower Foods shows their willingness to work together as a unified team, they will get the opportunity to learn new things from other members which is not possible if they work individually. In the opinion of  Lawlor et al., (2018), it has been observed that if individuals work together in a team, they gets a scope to interact with each other thereby building a strong relationship among the team members (Lambert et al., 2017). In addition to this, Zameer et al., (2014) commented that teamwork enables the individuals to sort out any issues regarding the work. Moreover,  Hur (2017) asserted teamwork enables the team members to come up with new ideas or suggestions based on which effective decisions can be undertaken by the top authorities of the respective business firm.  In other words, flow of interaction is smooth in group work. This is applicable for skilled professionals of Sunflower foods. Besides, there are certain disadvantages that are associated with teamwork.

In accordance with the opinion of Deichmann and Jensen (2018), there are some individuals does not believe in hard work but such individuals takes the credit of hard work, which might cause disappointment to other team members. Sometimes, these individuals gets rewards from higher authorities despite of giving minimal effort in the team thereby causing resentment as well as disappointment to other individuals of the team. This might happen among employees of Sunflower food (Ward, Holmes  and Stringer, 2018). According to Shafiq,  Ayoub and Khurram (2018), it has been observed that group work delays the decision-making process.

 If employees of Sunflower Foods works in a collaborative manner, it will take time to undertake important business decisions. It take time to undertake decisions because ideas as well as suggestions will be collected from the  respective group. It has been notice that in a groupwork, there are individuals who does not complete their own task and they leave the task to other team members to execute the task. In accordance with the opinion of Jones(2018), difference of opinions may arise among team members that might give rise to internal conflicts. This is one of the most common issue that is faced by individuals working in a group.  It might happen that employees of  Sunflower faces the similar issue that paves the way for intrinsic conflicts.

Ways to improve teamwork and morale

It is recommended for management Sunflower to segregate the tasks among the team members so that they can perform the tasks in a systematic as well as organized manner. it will be beneficial for the organization if they involves their skilled employees in social activities. In the context of Sunflower Foods, it is a suggestion for the management to engage every employee of their company in social activities so that they can get a scope to know each other well and share a good bonding with each other. it is required for the company to engage the skill professionals in extra-co-curricular activities which improves their relationship with each other. However, it is suggested for  the top executives and  senior managers   of Sunflower Foods to include co-curricular activities in their working procedures and they should motivate their employees to actively take part in such activities.  It is  a suggestion for the management to outline the goals and objectives of the  company in a clear way so that there will be confusion among the team members regarding the specified objectives of the respective business firm. However, it is a suggestion for Sunflower  foods  to  clearly state the goals of this company. This approach  of the management will decrease  the chances  of  miscommunication among the  team  members. Besides, it is suggested for the management working at Sunflower group  to organize team outings for their employees. this approach of the management will inspire the employees of the respective organization to work in  a collaborative manner.

It is recommended for the senior managers to include open forums in their working procedures so that their employees can share their perspectives with each other without any sort of hesitation. by fostering creativity within the team, it is possible for a business firm to incorporate a team based structure throughout the working procedures of the respective  company.  However, it is required for  senior managers of Sunflower foods to foster creativity within tits team in order to incorporate team based structure within  its work culture. These are some of the ways by which teamwork can be improved within the work culture of Sunflower Foods.

From the perspective of Romagnoli, M. (2016), there are several ways by which  staffs can be motivated to perform better.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a five-tier model.  The lowest levels represent basic needs. On the other hand, the top levels of the pyramid represents the most complex needs.  The initial four levels are termed as deficiency needs whereas topmost level is termed as growth needs. Physical requirements such as food, water, sleep, warmth etc are the physical requirements of an individual, which should be fulfilled. After the fulfillment of these basic physical needs, individuals start searching for safety as well as security. Job security, economic security, family security etc are considered as safety needs of an individual, which should be fulfilled. After these needs are fulfilled, individuals now want to mitigate their psychological needs such as love, friendship etc. the next level represents the needs for self-actualization. Growth as well as the development are the requirements of the person in this level (Lambert et al., 2017).

Factors responsible for strategic change

BF Skinner was the propounder of Reinforcement theory. As per the concept of this particular theory, behavioral attitude of the person is the function of consequences. In other words, individual’s repeats those actions which possess positive consequences. On the other hand, individuals tend to avoid those behavioral actions which results in the negative consequences. It has been observed that this particular theory ignores the inner state as well as feelings of the person. In this context, it can be stated that employees working at the business organizations needs to be motivated by providing them flexible working environment (Jones, 2018). This particular theory gives importance on the environmental factors because it gives a shape to the behavioral attitude of the respective individual. According to the concept of this theory, external environment should be designed in such a way that it is possible for the management to inspire the workforce so that they give their best input within the working environment of the respective business organization. It has been observed that managers take help of these techniques in order to control behavioral attitude of its skilled professionals.

Positive reinforcement gives the positive response to the employee when he or she exhibits positive as well as required behavior. For instance, if a manager appreciates any employee, for coming at office before the reporting time, this behavior of the manager acts as a positive reinforcement. In this regard, it can be stated that if it seen that employee’s behavior is getting improved on  a regular basis, rewards can be given to the respective employees. This approach of the management is an instance of positive reinforcement. More spontaneously the reward is given to the employees, greater the value positive reinforcement has.

It substantiates the fact that rewarding a skilled professional by eliminating negative consequences and undesireable consequences. In this regard it can be stated that positive as well as negative reinforcement has been used for enhancing desirable behavior or required  behavior.

It is used for preventing the undesirable behavior of the individual. For example,  the management of the respective organization suspends a skilled professional if he or she breaches the rules and regulations of the respective organization.

It is  a  way used for stopping a person to perform the  learned behavior. It unintentionally reduces the occurrences of undesirable behavior within the workflow of the respective organizations.

It is the responsibility of the managers of Sunflower Foods to motivate the employees if they perform better in the working environment. The management should give rewards to the workforce simultaneously.  It is the prime responsibility of the organization to communicate to their employess about what the employees are doing wrong within the work culture of companies. In addition to this, the managers need to communicate to their employees about how they can obtain positive reinforcement.

Marlow and Tjandraatmadja (2014) asserted that it is required for the management working at Sunflower Foods to fulfill the safety needs of the individual because they are feeling demotivated and they are unable to deliver their best performance in their company. For this purpose, it is essential for the management to assure them that their job is secured. In the opinion of Tripathy (2018), this approach of the management is capable of boosting the confidence of the employees that they are capable enough to deliver best input to the respective business firm. In this context, it can be stated that moral support from the senior managers is capable of increasing the morale thereby increasing the overall productivity of the respective business firm (Andersen et al., 2016). In the opinion of Haider (2016), the proper implication of this particular theory will increase the morale of the skilled professions who are working in this medium-scale business firm.

In 1959, Frederick Herzberg had developed Herzberg’s two factor theory. It has been noticed that job factors can be categorized into hygiene factors and motivational factors. It has been noticed that hygiene factors are responsible for motivating the employees within the environment of the respective workplace. Pay, organizational policies, administrative policies, fringe benefits, working conditions, status as well as interpersonal relations are included in hygiene factors (Lambert et al., 2017). It has been observed that every top performer should be appreciated for their good performance by the seniors. The employees should get a promotional opportunity from the company. It has been observed that the organization has certain limitations. Herzberg wanted to establish a connection between job satisfaction as well as productivity. However, it is seen that job satisfaction has been emphasized in this theory and productivity was not emphasized in this theory. In other word, Herzberg had failed to connect productivity and work satisfaction.

The managers working at Sunflower foods needs to consider the hygiene as well as motivation factors in order to boost up the morale of the skilled professionals. In accordance with the opinion of Chu and Kuok (2015), there are several ways by which it is possible for management working at Sunflower foods to motivate its employees to perform better. According to Lawlor et al., (2018), by offering fringe benefits to the workforce, it is possible to motivate the employees to give their best performance to the organization. In accordance with the opinion of Bolloju, Chawla and Ranjan (2018), healthcare plans should be offered to them if they are performing good in the organization on a regular basis. It is needed for the management to offer flexi-work timing and work from home facilities to their workforce. It is essential for the managers of Sunflower Foods to offer job security to its workforce. In addition to this, it is needed for the managers to provide safe as well as clean working environment  to its employees (Jansen, Hänel and Klingler, 2018) . Besides, managers need to offer incentives to its employees so that they become motivated to deliver good performance in the organization. Managers need to offer reward appraisals  to its top performers. Bolloju, Chawla and Ranjan (2018) asserted that this approach of the management is capable of inspiring and increasing the employees of Sunflower Foods.

 It has been observed that managers should give health insurance coverage to their employees in order to boost their confidence and morale. From the perspective of ` Jansen, Hänel and Klingler (2018), leave benefits must be offered to the employee si order to improve their working spirit within the organization. In accordance with the opinion of Bolloju, Chawla and Ranjan (2018), work from home should be provided to the skilled professionals in order to improve their working spirit as well as confidence of the employees. In accordance with the opinion of Chu and Kuok (2015), it is needed for the management working at Sunflower foods to offer maternity leaves and paternity leaves so that it is possible for them to increase the level of motivation among the employees. Moreover, Chu and Kuok (2015) commeted that it is essential for the managers to organize awards function every year. From the perspective of Jansen, Hänel and Klingler (2018), this approach of the management is capable of retaining the employees in the firm for a prolonged span of time. In addition to this, it is possible for the management working at Sunflower Foods to increase the extent of loyalty of their skilled workforce towards their organization. Moreover, it is essential for the management to improve the pay-scale of their workforce. This approach of the management of Sunflower Foods will encourage the employees to perform better in organization.

In accordance with the opinion of  Shafiq, Ayoub and Khurram (2018), leadership and management style are the key factors that are associated with driving effective strategic change within  the workflow of Sunflower Foods.  Good leadership is capable of guiding the people in the right direction. In this context, it can be stated the good leadership of the managers will help the employees to achieve their individual  as well as company’s targets by working as a unified  team. Change in the management style has led to strategic change in the working practices of Sunflower Foods (Holmberg, Caro and Sobis, 2018).

Conclusion

From the above discussion, it can be stated that good leadership is capable of bringing strategic changes in the work culture of organizations like Sunflower Foods. It is seen that organization was suffering from low morale and motivation of employees. It was also suffering from poor organizational culture. The proper implication of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Skinner’s Reinforcement theory and Herzberg’s Two Factor theory will boost the morale of the employees as well as encourage the employees to perform better. By offering incentives, healthcare plans, reward appraisals, vacations, flexi work timings, the managers can enhance the morale of its workforce and they can increase their motivation to perform better in the organization.

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